Nvidia's gaming-oriented Shield Tablet is one of the first mobile devices to use the Tegra K1 CPU, and in sheer power it blows other tablets out of the water.

Nvidia tackled the mobile and gaming markets from a strange direction two years ago when it released the Nvidia Shield (now called the Shield Portable), an Android-based handheld device that combines the power and ecosystem of a tablet with the physical controls of a game system. It's a niche product, but it impressed us enough to eventually award it our Editors' Choice distinction after a series of very welcome updates. Nvidia is now tacking toward a more conventional course, but it's still committed to making a gaming portable with the $299 (for the 16 GB/Wi-Fi-only version as tested; $399 for the 32 GB/LTE version) Shield Tablet.

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The 8-inch Shield Tablet is the first to sport Nvidia's Tegra K1 chip, is filled with gamer-friendly features and connectivity options, and is designed to work with the Wi-Fi-based Shield Wireless Controller in addition to Bluetooth gamepads, mice, and keyboards. It's a bit pricey for a small tablet, but its performance and design make it an attractive tablet for gamers. For dedicated handheld game systems, you'd still be better off with a Nintendo 3DS XL or a PS Vita Slim for the depth and breadth of titles available for either device. But if you're looking for a more general-purpose product that still caters to your gaming needs, the Shield Tablet is an excellent choice.

DesignNvidia carries over the sleek, dark, industrial style of the Shield Portable to the Shield Tablet. The 8.8-by-5-by-0.4-inch (HWD), 13.7-ounce device is a mix of blacks and dark grays, from the matte black back with its glossy black Shield logo to the gunmetal speaker grilles flanking the 8-inch, 1080p LCD screen. It looks like a larger, more intimidating version of the Google Nexus 7, which fits its concept of being a tablet specifically for gamers.

The right edge holds Power and Volume Up/Down buttons, plus the microSD card slot hidden behind a small rubber door. The right edge also holds the included stylus, which I describe in detail below. The left edge is empty, save for two indentations for the optional $39.99 Shield Tablet Smart Cover, which attaches magnetically and automatically turns the screen on and off. Curiously, the micro USB and HDMI ports sit on the top side of the tablet alongside the 3.5, near the front-facing camera.

The Android experience on the Shield Tablet is almost identical to the Shield Portable, with the obvious exception of the devices' form factors. The tablet uses a nearly stock version of Android 4.4.2 KitKat, with Nvidia's own Shield Hub interface unobtrusively tucked away as a separate app. The Shield Hub presents a large, couch-friendly menu system optimized for use with a gamepad. It offers easy access to games and media apps while hiding the more granular elements of Android.

Gaming FeaturesLike the Shield Portable, the Shield Tablet can enter a Console Mode when connected to an HDTV over HDMI. Console mode turns off the tablet's screen and outputs video to the connected HDTV in 1080p. It opens up Shield Hub by default, but you can easily go back to the full Android interface. You obviously can't use the touch screen when the screen is turned off, but a connected controller like the Shield Wireless Controller can move an on-screen pointer with an analog stick, and the tablet can readily use Bluetooth mice and keyboards.

While it doesn't have its own physical controls like the Shield Portable, the Shield Tablet is designed for use with the Nvidia Shield Wireless Controller, an optional gamepad we reviewed separately. The Shield Wireless Controller uses a Wi-Fi connection instead of Bluetooth to work with the Shield Tablet, which results in less latency for the user and enables audio to be streamed wirelessly to the gamepad and output through its own headphone jack. The Shield Tablet can also use regular Bluetooth gamepads.

Like the Shield Portable, the Shield Tablet allows for convenient and powerful control mapping for any game with touch-screen controls through the Gamepad Mapper feature. If a game doesn't support physical controls and only uses on-screen options, you can create or download a control profile that makes the physical inputs on the connected controller trigger screen presses.

Because of the popularity of sharing gameplay footage, Nvidia added a new Share menu that can record everything that happens on the screen, take screenshots, and even stream to Twitch. The tablet can automatically record up to 20 minutes of footage at a time, so you can capture big moments in your games, and you can manually start a gameplay recording any time you want. It also offers voice recording and an inlaid facecam view with the front-facing camera, if you want to make a full Let's Play experience.

The included stylus and Tegra K1 CPU give the Shield Tablet a surprisingly effective extra purpose as an artistic tablet. The pre-installed Nvidia Dabbler app uses the K1's processing power and the stylus to realistically reproduce watercolor paints. The app offers a variety of brushes and surfaces, and you can virtually wet your brush as much as you'd like to have colors bleed together. It even uses the tablet's motion sensors to control paint bleed in different directions, so turning the tablet upright makes wet brushstrokes bleed down the screen as if you were using an easel.

PerformanceThe Nvidia Shield Tablet ushers in the age of the Tegra K1, a mobile system-on-a-chip that debuted at CES 2014 and wowed onlookers with its graphical prowess. Remember the eerily human FaceWorks demo? This is not, however, the 64-bit "Project Denver" version—instead, the Shield Tablet is powered by four ARM Cortex A15 CPUs paired with Nvidia's 192-core Kepler GPU.

After running the Shield Tablet through a range of synthetic benchmarks, it's safe to say that this is one of the most powerful mobile devices available right now, at least in terms of graphical performance. And early indications point to an advantage over Qualcomm's upcoming Snapdragon 805 and Adreno 420 GPU. We won't inundate you with too many numbers, but GFXBench results are of note given the gaming focus here. On the Manhattan test, the Shield tablet managed a relatively smooth 28.2fps onscreen and 30.2fps off. Compare that with the Snapdragon 801-powered Samsung Galaxy S5's 11.7/11.8 fps (on/off) and the iPhone 5s's 26.9/13.2 fps (on/off). You'll want to pay attention to the offscreen numbers here to rule out any differences in native screen resolution. The Shield tablet nearly triples the frame rates offered by the Snapdragon 801 and Apple A7, from a herky-jerky 10-15fps to a playable 30fps. An early report from Anandtech showed the Snapdragon 805 turning in 17.7fps offscreen on the Manhattan test. The Shield Tablet also turned in the highest Antutu and Vellamo results we've seen, which test general system performance and Web browsing performance, respectively. As always, however, synthetic benchmarks don't paint a complete picture.

Given the clean, nearly stock version of Android 4.4.2, one might expect unencumbered performance that at least matches this generation of flagship phones. Everything is still pretty quick here, but the Shield Tablet sputters at times with even basic home-screen animations, and the number of app crashes we experienced during testing was a bit disconcerting. It's not a huge cause for concern, but it suggests software optimizations are still a work in progress for the relatively new Tegra K1. It's unusual to see a tablet that performs so well with graphical benchmarks, but still feels slightly janky in the most simple interface functions.

The Android ecosystem is still relatively limited, but there are plenty of compelling ports of classic PC and arcade games available, along with some interesting mobile titles. I played Trine 2, Metal Slug 3, Sine Mora, and Max Payne on the Shield Tablet. All four games looked smooth, with steady animation at 1080p. With the Shield Wireless Controller, all four games performed as if I was using a game console and not a mobile device.

For sheer processing power, the Nvidia Shield Tablet blows other tablets out of the water, and it's loaded with useful features and connectivity options. It's genuinely impressive Nvidia could fit so much power and flexibility into an 8-inch tablet. Its $300 price tag might seem a bit high compared with a gaming device like a PS Vita or Nintendo 3DS, and even compared with a small Android tablet like a Google Nexus 7, but it offers more than enough functionality to make up for it.

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About the Author

Will Greenwald has been covering consumer technology for a decade, and has served on the editorial staffs of CNET.com, Sound & Vision, and Maximum PC. His work and analysis has been seen in GamePro, Tested.com, Geek.com, and several other publications. He currently covers consumer electronics in the PC Labs as the in-house home entertainment expert... See Full Bio

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Before joining the consumer electronics team at PCMag, Eugene worked at local news station NY1 doing everything from camera work to writing scripts. He grew up in Montclair, New Jersey and graduated from the University of Virginia in 2010. Outside of work Eugene enjoys TV, loud music, and making generally healthy and responsible life choices.

Nvidia Shield Tablet

Nvidia Shield Tablet

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